Nursing the old fashioned way

Nurses General Nursing

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hi all,

i just read a thread asking about older nursing interventions and it made me think of the older techniques that we really did use before so many modern meds and procedures.

for a lower gi bleed we used to do strong tea enemas. the rational was the tannic acid in the tea helped constrict the small bleeders in the colon.

we also used maalox and methiolate for bed sores or a sugar and betadine mixture if it needed packing.

i also remember when patients were impacted and the doctors would order 3 h enemas.

of course i still remember glass iv bottles and metal bedpans. anyone else want to regress and reflect?

Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

Oh I forgot this one... chest tubes to double bottle suction.

let me see if i remember. one line of thought was that the ice and cold could cause vagal stimulation i believe... and then some nurses also believed it would shunt blood to the stomach that was needed for cardiac function if the patient ate anything too hot or too cold so hot coffee or tea was also a no-no. everything was room temperature. anyone else have a different theory in their area for this one?

that's the theory i recall, also. when i was in nursing school (in an excellent hospital-based diploma program), mi clients spent weeks in the cardiac step-down unit (that's after they came out of the ccu), and everything in the unit was arranged to protect their fragile, damaged hearts from any stress and possible further damage. no particularly hot or cold food or fluids; a special bed bath procedure to protect them from getting chilled and physically stressed (i no longer remember what the technique was, but i remember we had to learn a different, special bed bath routine just for the cardiac unit), and we all tip-toed around and spoke in whispers to, again, protect them from being startled and stressing their hearts. (and, now, you get sent home a few days after a big mi -- my, my, how things change ...)

people who had cataract surgery were in the hospital for many days, also, with their heads immobilized with sand bags.

checking people's urine glucose by holding the "dipstick" up to the color scale on the side of the dipstick canister and giving the ssi based on that.

almost never wearing gloves -- just for specific procedures like sterile dressing changes. and i wore real "whites" and my cap proudly (still do, on the rare occasions when i'm in whites -- my specialty is psych, so i've spent most of my career in street clothes); never stood up for a doc, though -- that was before my time, thank goodness!

yes, "3h" enemas. and a whole series of different weird treatments for pressure sores. the betadine and sugar mixture became popular while i was in school. one of the orthopedic surgeons at the hospital was mixing up betadine and sugar at home, bringing it into the hospital, and using it to pack his surgical sites (joint replacements, orifs, etc.) it was v. "cutting edge" at the time, and you couldn't get a commercial preparation.

Specializes in Cardiac, Thoracic, Vsg, ENT, GU.

I remember our first Aids patient. A large sign warning everyone entering the room was placed on the patient's

room door....A I D S. Ohhh, where was HIPPA when you needed it?:idea:

literally;)

Triple H enema... high, hot and a helluva lot! I not only remember metal bedpans and urinals but remember being deathly afraid of the bedpan cleaner and disinfecter....put the bedpan in the wall flusher and flushing and then the steamer valve... always thought it was going to explode and scald me!! Used glass thermometers too, and then soaked them in a disinfecting solution till the next round of temperatures! Also had the "St Mary's Bomb" for constipation - glass of warm prune juice with MOM and cascara added... the name says it all!!

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Nobody's responded to the HHH enema mention. Wonder how many newer nurses know that one?

;) High Hot and Helluva Lot!!!!!!!!!!

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
No ice for cardiac patients

Cardiac level #1 May assist with bath and read holding book below the level of the heart.

No Ice or hot and cold liquids.

Too funny now.......they also thought that the extreme temperatures down the irritated the heart and could cause arrythmias and/or spasm.

We had a cardiologist that placed all MI's on a lido gtt to prevent cardiac arrythmias to "decrease the hearts irritation" after an MI. Lido 4:1 at 1mg we called them "Chip drips" after the cardiologist. I remember isuprel gtt's for bradycardia with MI's........... no wonder we had a lot of VT.:o

I forgot all about breaking those thermometers and playing with the mercury. I remember Dr Clancys butt ointment and alcohol baths for temps. I hated those chest tube bottles taped to the floor! How about iced levages until clear for GI bleeds and actually counting gtts to time your IV's.

The vent was a MA1 and we kept open hearts snowed and vented for weeks.

White uniform, white or blue sweaters only and clean white shoes. Hair off the collar! HS care included "tidying the patients room and emptying the garbage" Posey vests and "all side rails up" was a saftey measure. OH! alcohol gtts for DT's!

There are so many posts that become negative......This is really refreshing!

Specializes in LTC, Disease Management, smoking Cessati.
Maybe we're old fashioned at my hospital, but we still have metal bedpans and gerichairs :S

Metal bed pans are great for emergencies, if you can't reach the call light, or yell loud enuff, toss one in the hallway.... see how fast people come running.... :-) :eek: :yeah:

Does anyone remember unit secretaries??? What angels they were!!!!

Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

This is really nice to see. : ) I hope it keeps going. It's neat to see the history that nursing has come from, and how much has changed.

Specializes in M/S, ICU, ICP.

lord yes, i did the alcohol drips as well to prevent dt's. lol. specially if they were a cardiac patient because dt's "would kill them." the butt ointment reminded me of the numerous mixtures we used on ladies who had under the breast or the belly yeast skin infections ..every doctor had their own mix-it-yourself recipe...and the heat lamps used on the wounds to dry them. (can you imagine how we not only dried them with heat lamps but betadine solution as well) i have made many a little tent over the lower parts of a patient using the 4 side rails up "for safety" and then put the light on so it would shine on the wound/bedsore areas.

..and there was also a spray in a can to prevent bedsores.:lol2: honest. the slogan was "think pink"

there was a push to "think pink" and the salesmen would give all the nurses a stick-on pink ribbon so we would use their product and spray the skin on a pressure point "at the first sign of pink."

bedsores and contractures were highly prevalent back then. and every nursing home patient got a foley catheter if they were incontinent in our area. so sad now.

hippa did not exist and you could have most anyone call to check up on "aunt sally". children were not allowed on the units period (except if the patient was dying). doctors would often snow any terminal patients so they would not suffer and i wonder how many we sedated to the other world that may could have had some quality time with their families? there was no hospice then in my neck of the woods.

hair on the collar was an absolute no-no, jewlery was forbidden, only a wedding band and a watch. shoes were kept clean and if they were soiled with blood or other brown things you ran in the bathroom and cleaned them right then and there.

cardiacs, i remember teaching them to never cross their legs or rest one leg over the other or they would get blood clots from compressing the circulation. there was no anti-thrombolitic therapy after heart attcks or surgery. (shiver)

pre-cordial thumps were "in" if you could "see" the v-tach and whether they are supposed to work or not....i saw them actually work many a time. cvp readings were all manual, put the bed in "x" position,put the patient on "y" position, turn the knob to allow the fluid to slowly fill the glass tube and watch for it to level off.

i also did many a feeding with a 60 cc syringe for the elderly patient after mashing the food and mixing it with either their milk or juice because it would take the kitchen forever to put it all in a blender and puree it. shoot i remember the first heplock i ever saw and i thought that was the neatest thing.

oh and rib belts for rib fractures..... and teach them to deep breath ......and abdominal binders after any surgery to the abdomen so they would not 'split back open.'

potassium was kept on the floor and most all iv fluids were in glass bottles and you mixed it and counted the drops. lord how many times i would count and recount to make sure i was right. all piggy backs were mixed when you were ready to use them and they were mixed from scratch, not the pop the top and shake the bag kind we use now... and come to think of it, most antibiotics were done by deep im injections. ouch. rotated injection sites every few hours...only a few actually got the antibiotics iv.

anyone remember the "banana bag" iv that all alcoholic patients got?

and yes i recall unit secretaries...love them and the aides.

i would always have someone else calculate med mixtures behind me on cardiac drugs and such just in case i was wrong. half the time the night shift charge nurses covered the house and did all the pharmacy detail after 5pm. nurses worked with the aides and together they did all the baths.

not all of it was so bad. you knew your patients much better and had a lot less paper work!

Oh yes the precordial thump!! We had this guy once that kept going into vtach and got thumped 3 times. I was the one that had to do it the last time. He looked up at me and said, "Lady, what the devil do you keep hittin' me for?"

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